The Blindfolded Scale
by Outside The Box
Summary: I'm sorry if I'm not going to give you the usual pokemon trainer story. This is based off of an old original pokemon story of mine. A girl named Iruel attends Pokemon Tech Academy. The events at that school will change her and many other lives forever.
1. Forest

A/N: Reposted and edited. I felt this had to start over due to the fact I was in a silly high on Starbucks caffeine at two in the morning when I had written the first chapter (a rough draft, which experienced, talented readers torched so gratefully). After a long trail of writer's block, I decided to edit this as I should have before I repost this for those who had read so this is for you all, whose advice has been read and taken graciously.

Before any new readers read (and to answer some old questions), I'm going more in-depth with a girl's story at the Pokemon Tech Academy. In other words, I am making up stuff that isn't there or what I felt may be common sense to fill in the blanks that the anime and manga of Pokemon do not clearly state. If you're expecting a tale of a girl's conquest to be Pokemon champion (which is not what this story is about anyway), find romance, and/or a in-depth look at the Pokemon world, then you're not in the right place.

Hopefully any of you can stick around long enough to understand what I mean when this story gets there.

FOREST

The vast wilderness winded into an entangled mess. It stretched into the further, creamy mountains that blended into a stream of mist. Trees gripped the land like an enchanting prison cell. It felt almost like a giant's lawn. The skies were decorated a gorgeous blue to draw the complete grace of nature.

It was a quiet land where creatures hid in the vast. Several flocks of birds flew over the fertile land. The songs they whistled gave the silent earth another new theme. Deeper into the wilderness, animals flocked in groups, but never in the sight of people, for it may ruin nature's secrets.

The alien form, a human, had wandered aimlessly for two weeks. Fair skin was darkened by the sun's warm glow but she searched for a shield. In unsurprising disbelief, her thumb repetitively punched the redial button over and over. Three simple words flashed angrily upon the screen of her index: Out of Range. To reinstall lost motivation, the angry red index was shoved into the imitative schoolbag. She closed her eyes and pointed to a random, general direction in hopes that nature would show her the way.

Hours had drifted by as time became a relentless enemy. She felt her dirty hair become rough and sticky. The mix of gold and brown strands of hair took a deep transformation from modern culture to the era of the caveman. Her bloodshot eyes once a glistening hazel-gray fell into a sleep-deprived state of mind. She retrieved her index again. It reminded her of who she was.

"Iruel Engla. Trainer License Number, 5FFF-0106-A30. Admission obtained under Cinnabar License Federation." She tapped the same button to send a message for help to only have the words, 'out of range', flash on her screen again. "Record is void of all classes of offense. Complete record carries four gym badges of promotion. Boulder Badge. Rainbow Badge. Soul Badge. Cascade Badge. Not qualified to participate in Kanto, Johto, and International Leagues."

Iruel retrieved her canteen of water to find it nearly empty. She rewarded herself the last two gulps before the sack was dry. Upon an empty path, she drowned in boredom. Iruel's long dwelling with nature had not provided useful insight to her amusement on how to improve her techniques.

She was trained to measure distance, accuracy, and flexibility when she was younger. Those strengths explained her weaknesses in her failed attempts to claim badges from Saffron and Verulean whose psychic and grass techniques did not follow the rules of depth perception. Then again, she was the odd child born to an exciting, eccentric family of fire researchers. Her parents decided that their one and only child should be different and outstanding. Iruel would excel on the field of sight determination on measuring distance and depth perception...even when her parents knew boys had the advantage. Her parents recorded every 'first' of Iruel's life into a five-hundred page, hardcover record book on a human-being's first. It even listed lines for "first marriage", "first child", and "first divorce".

One time, the head professor of the Cinnabar islands had awarded her a prized Vulpix. However, the prize had created many rivals.

Soon came the day that ambitious thirteen-year old children had received their trainer's license for legal ownership of pokemon. Like many others, they, too, swore their names will be etched into history's hall of fame. It was not a tearful farewell. In the midst of competition, there was no room for tearful farewells...or weaknesses.

About half of them, including Iruel, enrolled into the prestigious Pokemon Tech Academy. The requirements to attend were a minimum of five gym badges which needed to be collected in a time span of two years before the trainers can finally enter the school at the age of fifteen. If they could not fulfill the requirement by that deadline, they were not allowed. It was two courses of life they can take. The field experience or the preparation experience. Both had their pros and cons.

In her hometown, Flicker, amongst the new generation of trainers, the worst rival Iruel could recall was nicknamed 'the sexist of Flicker Town'. He had openly proclaimed that girls like Iruel should remain at home and be raised to be good housewives and not interfere with man's game with nature. Little did Jraine, the arrogant sexist, realize was that every girl swore deeply into their hearts that they will ensure Jraine should die as a virgin and alone.

It was evident that Jraine held the biggest dislike of Iruel, which she did not care too much. Iruel had nothing personal against Jraine but her personal views were in conflict.

It had been two years since all of those promises had been made. Iruel gazed toward the never-ending rows of countless trees. For a while, the only thought that settled on her mind was sleep, until it blossomed so vividly. Her conscience was taken away with a thud to the soft, tender earth soil.


	2. Rin

RIN

The light awoke her from her fallen slumber. She was clumsily wrapped in a field of blue wool sheets and was trapped in a strange, moderately-lit room. Iruel sat up to reassure herself that her rescuer was not in any ways, a sexual predator. Her clothes were intact yet her items from her bag were scattered on the jungle floor. Some cash laid around as if to hint the perpetrator was about to take the money but decided against it. Iruel shuffled through the mess her rescuer had made by the possessions he took from her bag. If it was a 'he', of course. Her spheres were missing although that wasn't too big of a deal. If her savior hadn't done anything to her by this time, he or she would not do any more.

A CD player, a change of clothes, mouthwash, sun block, wallet, a bag of sunflower seeds, a towel, and her index laid amongst the greater mess. To her humor, the rescuer had left the tampons and menstrual medication in the bag. Her aid was definitely male.

The door suddenly opened as she met eyes with a young boy about her age. Immediately the air of contradiction came into play. His hair made him seem more suited to be a resident of Flicker than she was. She immediately decided she liked him the moment she saw him.

"I'm not interrupting you?" he asked carefully. His head seemed to sway with every word he spoke. "I swear I didn't do anything other than carry you here." He insisted. "You believe me, right?"

"Thank you."

A mother's voice echoed in the hallway. It already had her assume that this was his residence and they were in a town.

"Rin, is she awake?" Holding onto the doorknob, he withdrew his head into the hallway to return the call.

"Yeah." His head returned. "You want to meet my mom? She thought I—you know, the wilderness and none watching?" He then did a humorous imitation of his mother. "Boys these days. They think they can do whatever they want because society doesn't punish them for it!"

"Of course you didn't do anything." Iruel smiled. "I'll go meet her." The boy pushed the door open and strolled down the hallway without waiting for her. Before she met up with him in the hallway, she stuffed some of her belongings back into her bag before catching up with the boy in the hallway.

"Name is Rin Akai." He glanced back at me.

"Iruel Engla." Iruel grinned as supportively as a grin could offer.

"Your wallet tells me you're going to PT Academy." He said. The most surprising part of his honesty was about rummaging through her bag. He didn't seem to be ashamed at all. "I'm going there this term. You have your five badges?"

"No. I need one more. I was hoping to obtain my last from Verulean." Iruel shrugged indifferently and seemed to imitate Rin's gestures. "I wasn't lucky the first two times."

"They say third time is the lucky one." He gave her a thumbs-up motion. "Mom, this is Iruel Engla. She's going to PT as well." Rin introduced with a polite bow. The woman was dressed in a colorful yellow. She carried an air of motherly playfulness that other mothers would never reveal. Iruel had already found a strong liking to her. The mother's hair was tied into one braid, which seemed to take off a few more years to her age. To Iruel's judgment, Rin's mother would be one of the mothers where anyone could truly mistaken her for an older sister.

"Wonderful!" her voice sang like chiming bells across the warm, small kitchen. "My, how you have such wonderful pets." She clapped revealing Iruel's pokemon in the garden to be feasting on raw nutrients.

"Thank you, ma'am. Is there any way I can repay—"

"Oh, nonsense! Your hospitality and attitude is all that's needed." Her laugh imitated a splendid harp ready for an excellent performance.

"I would like to reassure you that your son, Rin, did not do—"

"I know that, dear. He's only your age and I remember when I was that age. If boys were too shy to say 'hi' to girl, he's not capable of doing any more." His mother patted her son's messy, scarlet hair. "Show her around the house, dear. I'll make breakfast and you can tell us more about yourself."

"Thank you, ma'am." Iruel bowed before Rin motioned her to follow along. "How old are you?" she asked eagerly.

"Fifteen. Like you." He shook his head. "I'm born in January."

"July."

"The bathroom is here. My room is over there down the hallway and Mom's room is further there." Rin shrugged. "Anything else you want to know?" Iruel nodded.

"May I see my pokemon out there?"

"Yeah. This way." He waved his hand motioning her to follow. He certainly seemed to lack in the world of chivalry. However, his gestures and personality ran in a tranquil, calm manner that Iruel happened to like. She took a very good guess that he was may be a very good listener and the reliable advisor to his friends. "I liked your Torchic. It burnt half of the garden." Rin laughed for the first time. His laugh resembled his mother. It was something pleasant that she wanted to replay in her head a few more times. "Mom thought it was funny. At least the ashes will help the soil."

The boy opened the rattling door to the garden where nearly half was darkened by her Torchic's flames. In the soil's drenched atmosphere was a swarm of Caterpies, Weedles, and Wurmples that decided to make it their new home. Iruel sighed and smiled feebly.

"I'm sorry?"

"Not your fault. At least it didn't set our house on fire." His feet slipped into a pair of dirty sandals. She searched for the cleanest ones and quickly caught up after him. "At least it doesn't try to burn me if I pet it. It's a cute thing. What are the other ones you have again?"

"I have a Vulpix, a Zubat, and a Vibrava. That's about it." She smiled weakly. "I thought you took them out."

"Yeah. They're gone at the moment." He shrugged like it was a simple occasion.

"They'll be back then." Iruel guessed. "They always do that when I let go."

"Rin! Iruel! Breakfast is ready!"

"Wow. She reminds of Mom already." Iruel grinned. Rin scowled shyly and walked back to the house ahead of her. When they arrived back inside, Torchic was the first to hop inside followed by Rin's clumsy nature. He sat in his seat where the Torchic hopped right on his lap like it had mistaken its owner's identity. "That's cute. It likes you already."

"Not funny." He grumbled but didn't bother to move the Torchic off of his lap. Iruel took her seat next to him and thanked his mother politely as she served wonderful pancake and eggs. "Thanks, Mom." He muttered. His mother laughed to herself which had Iruel to assume that Rin was showing his gratitude on purpose.

'He wants me to have a good impression, of course.' She gave herself an amusing thought. His mother, instead of teasing her son, looked at Iruel admirably. For some reason, Iruel felt safe that she didn't need to be afraid of a judgmental treatment.

"Where do you come from, Iruel?" his mother asked. "You can call me Merra."

"Flicker. It's on Cinnabar Island, several miles south of the main Cinnabar archipelago." Iruel explained. "A lot of recent trainers come from there." She shrugged slightly.

"You know, you and Rin should train together. It would be nice for you both to pick up tips from each other." Merra suggested. "He already has all of his five badges." Rin looked away when his mother mentioned that. She noticed but didn't seem to care.

"I have four. Almost there." The girl cheered calmly. "Maybe I can use the extra support before I can submit the rest of my application." As Rin's mother served the food on the table, Rin attempted to reach for his utensils but the large size of the Torchic suddenly pecked ferociously onto the plate.

"Stupid bird. Get off." He tried to shove but the bird's feet were glued tightly to his legs.

"Tor. Get off." Iruel looked at her little bird as it glanced at her and hopped from Rin's lap taking most of the food on his plate with him. "I apologize."

"Oh, don't worry. Rin is always like that." His mother laughed joyously. "After breakfast, why don't you two get started? The sooner we can finish her application, the better." And so it was. Nearly all of Rin's breakfast was obliterated leaving his mother having to serve cold cereal instead. With only three weeks left before she could attain a new badge, she thought for a while and pondered the idea of going to the prestigious academy.

It was good to go.


	3. Shock

SHOCK

That morning, Iruel was up earlier than everyone in the house, or so she thought. She had not thought of calling her parents to tell them that she had not received her five required badges as of yet. She got out of the bed and thought to herself for a moment. How were her friends doing? Out of the forty children that left nearly two years ago, ten, including her, planned on going to the prestigious school of PT Academy. Jraine was one of them.

She could recall a few more friends of hers that also said they wanted to go to the Academy. Nana Arashi was one of the few. Her spunky, joyful nature was awfully contagious, but even she had an angry, obstinate side to her when it came to people like Jraine.

Iruel was then interrupted of her troubled thoughts as she turned to the sound of several knocks on the window. Her Vulpix tapped on the window as the Zubat bumped against the glass with its head. Torchic woke up to the sound of her Vulpix's murmuring and chirped as if to harass them.

Quietly, the girl summoned the Torchic to follow her into the hallway. Iruel recalled the previous night that Merra ordered Rin to sleep on the couch as Iruel would take his room. She felt badly enough that Rin had to sit through this but he was already awake when she stepped into the living room. He was reading some hard-covered, thick-paged novel, which Iruel recognized but didn't remember the book's name.

"Good morning." He greeted without looking up.

"Good morning." She answered and opened the door as several taps patted against the sand, then on the porch. "Some of them came back." He didn't answer as the Torchic pecked the Vulpix in a bullying manner. "Stop." She kicked the bird as it halted the bird's progress. The Torchic shuddered and its feathers appeared to have doubled its body size. "I haven't seen your pokemon yet."

"You missed them then." His hand pointed to the lump on the opposite couch. Iruel wandered to the gigantic lump of cloth and uncovered only some of the creature beneath it. Its blue head poked above the covers and blinked at the sight of Iruel. It gave a cuckoo at her arrival and she waved uncomfortably.

"This was probably why I didn't see them yesterday. They're hiding." She smiled.

"We're going to go pay a visit to Pewter City."

"Since when?"

"The admissions of PT aren't going to let you in with four badges." Iruel sighed in defeat and called in the house for her Cubone. "Judging from the pokemon you have...Torchic, Vulpix, Zubat, Vibrava, and Cubone...I see you don't really have 'elements' in mind, don't you?"

"I guess not..."

"Cubone will be your lead and Vibrava will be the follow-up. You're three key weaknesses are the rock, ground, and water elements, which are..." he shrugged almost as if to say incredulously. "the basic elements." He seemed to almost have been surprised she had that many badges. However, he was most curious about how she gained the Cascade Badge.

"How did you manage the water?"

"My Zubat was my lead and Torchic was my follow-up."

"Zubats are slow and Torchics are too inexperienced for a Seal or Goldeen," Rin rubbed his eyes. He was initially unimpressed with her pokemon for the lack of elements made gigantic loopholes in strength. "What did you do to get through?"

"I taught my Zubat how to adjust its frequency when its pitch hits the water."

"You suck at this," Rin shook his head. "That must have been some damn luck." Iruel didn't say anything and bit her lip. She was told that several times by previous gym leaders who fought her. She lacked the variety and strength to overcome battles. "Give me your Torchic's sphere."

"Why?"

"Tell me, how are you going to go on like that? You're struggling to get four and you have only a few weeks left to have five and you haven't done a single thing to fix your problem. We trade. I keep your Torchic and you get one of mine." Iruel hesitated and glanced at Torchic, which was pecking ferociously at the broken seat.

"Okay." She gave him her sphere and he shoved his in her hands.

"A Starmie. It's probably more useful than all of your pokemon combined." Rin muttered coldly. She wanted to see the gratitude in his behavior but she felt too consumed with her current dilemma that all she could do was retreat to the backyard of ashes swarmed by Caterpies and Weedles.

She called up her pokemon and released her Starmie.

One last thought went through her mind before she commanded them to fight, four against one.

'Please don't let him be right.'


End file.
